So, this BP oil thing...tell me what to think!

Edrof

Edrof

Edrof

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There seems to be a huge (mainly US) presence in the media and on the net who emphasise BP being British, constantly espouse how evil the corporation is and how negligent their actions have been.



In opposition, others are insisting that BP stands for Beyond Petroleum, that US oil spills have been far worse (but because they were in places like African seas nobody cares as much) and that the BP rig in question was US built and run.



So now I'm all confuzzled...what should I believe?!
 
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Bp is something like 40% us owned and the rig was American from what I have read.

As for what to think? Ignore the politics and just think about the disaster for what it is, an ecological disaster
 
BP have been used as a scapegoat and have had to take the vast majority of blame and subsequent costs. Haliburton and Transocean have equal blame, though it is a freak accident, and should be treated as harshly as BP have.

BP DOES NOT stand for British Petroleum and is roughly half owned by British and American shareholders alike.

Secondly, the Obama administration have seen to failed with their response to this problem (much like how Bush was seen to have failed after Katronia hit New Orleans). Because of this, he has been very eager to divert attention from the problems in his camp and instead place all the blame at the foot of BP in order to save himself.

Finally, some blame has to placed at the door of BP and it's CEO who's name I have forgotten. He was a Brit and made a certain number of gaffes in the media which made foolish Americans think that Britain was to blame further.

I'm going to steal this from the press, "This disaster happened on an American-owned, Korean-built rig leased by BP’s American subsidiary. But to listen to Obama, it is as if a few blokes from Stoke-on-Trent sailed over, and drilled a wildcat well – then buggered off and left Uncle Sam to suffer all the damage." Psh!

We didn't blame America for Piper Alpha where 167 people died (which I feel to be a worse tragedy than Deepwater) yet they blame us for this. It's inappropriate to do so and blame should be placed upon companies truly responsible and not bring nation politics into it. Hmph!
 
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Transocean rig Operated by BP. Transocean crew are responsible to maintain and carry out procedures on board safely, all be it under pressure form the BP company rep. Operating safety on every rig i worked on was through the roof.

They were doing a casing job sub contracted to Haliburton and someone probably didn't calculate something right with the amount of cement.

All eyes look up the chain of command when something goes bad, so yeah ultimately BP get the blame.
 
I like to think some good will come from this. It seems a lot of Americans, along with the current administration, are questioning the reliance on oil. If this helps move us towards other technologies, hydrogen powered cars, nuclear power etc, then maybe this cloud does have a silver lining.

Seems to me that once something happens to America, and not just other parts of the world, the desire for change starts. Pre 9/11 the IRA had a lot of support, and donations, from certain parts of the US. I remember someone on a news program saying, and I paraphrase

"it'll be a brave man who goes round the bars of Boston collecting for the IRA now"
 
I sort of agree with that. The whole global warming/CO2 thing seems to have garnished a lot of non believers and there are a few doubts over its arguement. However with it there has been lots of general non related environmental policies which aren't really a bad thing.
 
So what you are saying is that like 9/11 was fabricated by the USA government
(FACT) they have done the same here to sway the environmental opinions of its citizens?? That's a very bold thing to come out with you guys i hope the CIA dont monitor your posts.
 
Panic tactics by Obama & co, they had to be seen to be politically angry at BP and i guess history got involved in it as well. Old grudges die hard. It was American regulations they were following in the first place as well.
 
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Some thoughts,

- America's insatiable thirst for oil has resulted in massive political encouragement for deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

-The Texas oil industry is renowned for being a bit cavalier in it's attitude to engineering. I've been told that they "like to fly by the seat of their pants".

- There was a move in Washington to tighten up safety regulations in the Gulf of Mexico, however intense lobbying from BP among others persuaded Obama to drop these plans.

- BP as well owners are ultimately responsible for this disaster, no doubt their subcontractors will share some of the responsibility but this needs to be determined by a proper inquiry.

- People died on the Deepwater Horizon, this tends to get forgot.

- More oil leaks out (naturally and not naturally) every year in the Niger Delta than has leaked out in the Gulf so far.

- BP CEO Tony Hayward is a colossal prat, as is their Swedish chairman.

- Obama has rightly been criticised in this country for his apparent anti-British attitude. Other disasters caused by US companies such as Bhopal (Union Carbide) or Piper Alpha (Oxy) show up American hypocrisy on these issues but they aren't directly relevant to this case. We should not see BP as the victims in this.
 
Yeah it is annoying the emphasis being put on the British, when BP just stands for, BP apparently. I can't believe the Americans can apportion blame when they consume the most oil per person in the world. The Americans are the worst for damaging the environment and suddenly they are claiming to be the victims for the spill caused by companies that the Americans heavily invest in.
 
Ignoring all the nonsense about British Petroleum which is nothing but damage control by the Obama administration to divert attention from them removing restrictions on drilling in US waters and the government body that oversees drilling signing off on various aspects of the (poor) well design and (poor) drilling methods, the buck will stop with BP on this one.

Halliburton look entirely blameless, they advised BP that there were risks involved in various aspects of the cement work and the number of centralisers required and BP should have carried out tests on the their work to verify it was satisfactory and then decided not to to save money/time.

Transocean will shoulder some blame for the BoP, but the BoP is the secondary method of protection of stopping a blowout escalating. The primary method is the drilling mud that BP ordered the removal of from the well - they were in the middle of doing this when the blowout happened. There were a whole chain of decisions made by BP personel that increased the risks of the well failing, but worse than that also made decisions that removed layers of protection that would have prevented the blowout.
 
Sooo to sum up; it's basically American's doing what they do best (hypocisy and stupidity) and big companies doing what they do best (not giving a crap for anything except profits).

I might do what I do best (a nice cup of tea and a sit-down).
 
scorza said:
- BP as well owners are ultimately responsible for this disaster, no doubt their subcontractors will share some of the responsibility but this needs to be determined by a proper inquiry.
Click to expand...

BP are responsible full stop - by definition they are the majority shareholder in the well (65%) and so are the responsible party by default. Even if some Transocean guys had got drunk and deliberately blown the well BP would still be the responsible party.

Having responsibility for the cleanup etc.. doesn't however mean they are admitting negligence etc... This is what the inquiry needs to establish - who (if anyone) is to blame.
 
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